Get an insider's advance look at Richard Linklater's upcoming feature, A Scanner Darkly, based on the dystopic science-fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. Producer Tommy Pallotta, from the team who brought you the groundbreaking Waking Life, will be on hand to screen clips and discuss the film, which further explores Waking Life's visually stunning live action/animation rotoscoping technique. A Scanner Darkly opens in theaters in 2006.

"I got the script, read the script, really liked it," Reeves remembered recently while discussing his participation in the low-budget film "Thumbsucker." "I went to [the director's] office, sat at a table ..."

"Reeves is delightful in a part that surely doesn't echo his own Zen-space-cadet offscreen image by mere coincidence. (Hearing him shrug "I was lost in a cloud of hippie psychobabble" is one of many deadpan highlights here.)" - Variety (Sundance)

"Justin Cobb (Lou Pucci) is seventeen and still sucking his thumb. It's hell on his school and sex life. His guru orthodontist (Keanu Reeves in a hilarious cameo) clouds the issue with "hippie psychobabble." But when Justin is medicated for his attention-deficit disorder, the numbnut becomes a narcissist who leads the debating team to victory. The change shocks his coach (a terrific Vince Vaughn) and his parents (Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio), who turn out to be just as screwed up as Justin. Debuting writer-director Mike Mills -- remember the name -- brings heart and sting to Walter Kirn's novel. Pucci is an actor to watch: He rides this spellbinder without softening the truths that plague the thumbsucker in all of us."-Rolling Stone

"In the world of the goofy yet salient, Vince Vaughn, Benjamin Bratt, and especially Keanu Reeves all bring welcome humor and varying shades of strangeness." -FilmThreat.com

"Mike Mills doesn't suck And neither does his new film, Thumbsucker - I was amazed with the time it took to instill its characters with huma nism and compassion and draw great performances out of stars like a hilarious New Age-damaged Keanu Reeves, frumpy mom Tilda Swinton, and newcomer lead Lou Pucci. Dude goes from finger-licking nerdy to meds-enhanced overachiever and back." -SF Bay Guardian

"'Thumbsucker' works, in part due to the strength of Lou Pucci's superb lead performance and, in part, because however derivative the movie may be, none of its predecessors featured Keanu Reeves playing a Zen dentist who possesses the answers to life's Big Questions. That those answers change three or four times during the movie shows that Mills possesses a knowing sense of humor about his subject, and that Reeves continues to fashion a solid career parodying his dudeness." - Los Angeles Daily News

"Dr. Perry Lyman, tries hypnotherapy, urging Justin to invoke his "power animal" - a deer in the forest, as it turns out - for help in casting out his organic pacifier. As played by Keanu Reeves in a nicely self-parodic turn, pensive stoner Lyman isn't a quack; indeed, if Freud was onto anything in attributing oral fixation, and the catastrophic dentistry that goes with it, to bad parenting, then every orthodontist should cross-train as a shrink."-Village Voice

"But perhaps the biggest revelation is Reeves. So often derided for his laconic personality, and outside of the first Matrix movie, totally wasted by Hollywood, he makes a triumphant return to his indie roots with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Lyman's a great character - over the course of the movie, he goes through nearly as big an evolution as Justin does. Reeves, sending up that laidback persona that made him famous, is simply hilarious."- REEL.com

Tilda Swinton has some nice things to say about Keanu in this FilmStew.com article. Excerpt below, read the whole thing here.

But Swinton argues that even as he has risen to become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Reeves has always opted for more interesting choices. "I think it can be seen that Keanu is always making experimental films, actually. I do find his filmography extraordinary."

"If you think about it, there have been these amazing moments in sort of film development - he's kind of always been there for them. Bill and Ted, even Speed or Point Break, or the first Matrix, and My Own Private Idaho," she observes.

"He's always been there. It just shows how damned bright he is. Even Constantine was Francis Lawrence's first feature film and really did feel very experimental while we were making it," she continues. "And again he was there. I think that's his natural place. That's the way I read him; he's not easily frightened."

Reeves, of course, is often derided for his laidback, laconic style (which he lampoons brilliantly in Thumbsucker) and Swinton is quick to leap to her co-star's defense. "The thing that people need to remember about him is that he's so much more than an actor. He's a serious, serious movie star. I mean, if you think of Gary Cooper, for example, who's so much more than an actor. He's iconic in that way. He's so much better than a good actor. There's so much more to him, so much more than the sum of his parts."

"Last night the Egyptian theatre held a premiere for THUMBSUCKER with an after-party in the courtyard sponsored by Venice magazine, the magazine that all P. R. flacks have wet dreams about.

Things started with a cringe-worthy intro by the Sony Picture Classics rep where we were told that “it was uncomfortable to have this event with all that is going on in the Gulf Coast but there could be no better film at this time to show us the strength of humanity.” Memo to Sony execs…scrap those witty trailers and call CNN for flood footage. THUMBSUCKING saves the day!

Director Mike Mills brought up the cast and crew members in attendance. Of the cast, only Lou Pucci, Kelli Garner, Keanu Reeves, and Benjamin Bratt (Julia left me for a cameraman?) were in attendance. Keanu was in full Zen Lord of the Universe form. He had a slight beard growth and dark clothing and that distant look which communicates that he is pondering the universe - or wondering where he parked his motorcycle.

Mike Mills filled the front of the theatre with the crew and some members of Polyphonic Spree choir, but not all. They were a Polyphonic Spree Lite, if you will. It was priceless watching all these people stand there while Polyphonic Spree did an acoustic version of one the film’s songs. Keanu seemed to be pondering the flute player no doubt absorbing her mastery of the wind instrument and what it means to the alchemy of the universe - or he was wondering where he parked his motorcycle.

To the film’s credit it allows Keanu to use this Zen Master pose and play it up. his scenes with Lou in the dental chair are highlights. He seems to have fun poking holes in his persona - or else he was wondering where he parked his motorcycle.

Where was Tilda Swinton last night? Where was Vince Vaughn? One can only surmise that Tilda was reading Shakespeare in the country and Vince was locked up in the love lair with Jennifer Aniston.

Did anyone else see this?
Last Thursday, during a segment on The Today Show, some health and beauty droid was talking about something or other and was showing some cute little tubes of Japanese flavored toothpastes and piqued my interest when she mentioned that "Keanu Reeves loves the cola flavor so much, he has it imported".

So, of course I had to try it.
It's a very subtle cola flavor, but yummy. It's just what you would expect he would like in a fancy imported toothpaste.

If you'd like to see what Keanu's mouth tastes like just before he leaves the house, you can get it here...